Boruto: Online
by Calamity Heart
Summary: "Using a massive and complex array of genjutsu carefully integrated into our systems and hardware, we have created the ultimate gaming experience..." Follow Boruto Uzumaki and his friends into the world's first fully immersive virtual reality RPG, Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest, as they battle, craft, and level their way to becoming the best team of players in the world!
1. Prologue

**It's finally here! Welcome to the start of my next really big Naruto project, Boruto: Online! I've been really excited to get this started since Eleven Fifty-Four ended. This is the first work I've done in quite some time that didn't have romantic elements, and the first one to have a T rating as well. :P Knowing me, this could very well change to M later, but for right now, the plan is to keep this story T-rated and emphasize more action-packed, adventurous elements.**

 **The prologue took me quite some time to get through. It was hard finding a start to the story that I liked, but I'm finally happy with the end result, and I hope you enjoy it as well! It's a bit short, but it's just a prologue. Subsequent chapters will be a bit longer, especially once we start getting deep into the game.**

 **Yes, this is a gamefic. Inspired by other games with a somewhat similar formula, I've decided to try it out for myself. It seemed like it'd be fun to write, and all the ideas I'm having for this story are definitely encouraging. Tell me what you think and how I might be able to improve along the way! Reviews are even more encouraging!**

 **This story will be peppered with little references to other games. A fun little challenge for you, readers: there's a couple of references just in this chapter. Read carefully and see if you can find them. :D**

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, gamers worldwide, we are _minutes_ away from ushering in a new era of gaming. That's right; in just a few minutes, at noon today, the premiere patch of Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest will go live, and owners of the state-of-the-art Bacharugan headset will be able to jump right in, create their own character, and join _thousands_ of other players across the globe as they fight and explore together in a fully immersive virtual world!"

Even with his eyes and ears mostly trained toward the MOBA before his eyes, Boruto could still hear the chatter of the too-excited male announcer on TV, reiterating the same hype that most of the gaming community had been being fed for almost two whole years now, about Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest, 'the game to end all games'.

Quietly developed with experimental technology for quite a few years even before its first public appearance as a concept, according to the developers, this 'latest and greatest' installment in the popular Chronicles of Nin franchise, by and large Boruto's favorite series of games, was the first of its kind.

" _It is a game unlike any that have come before it,"_ the lead developer, Akari Nara, had said during his first interview. _"The details of our exact methods will remain secret, of course, but what I can say is that, using a massive and complex array of genjutsu carefully integrated into our systems and hardware, we have created the ultimate gaming experience."_

Needless to say, Boruto and the group of friends he often played online with after training or missions, had been keeping track of this game for quite some time. It was among the premiere software being released that was compatible with another of Akari Nara's revolutionary inventions: the Bacharugan, Virtual Eye Headset, and it was by far the most anticipated and talked-about.

Much of the game's plot was kept under wraps, but from the various screenshots, trailers, and other interviews, a lot of research into the world's greatest battles and wars went into the game's development, and the plot represents an alternate telling of history, implying that Unlimited Quest might be the first Chronicles of Nin game to take place in a realistic setting and not the fictional continent featured in other games.

"Remind me again why I'm listening to this?" Boruto spoke into his headset, the red-haired caster-nin he was playing as clearing a lane of enemy ninja minions with a single Fireball Jutsu as they charged the Left First Gate. He hung back to watch the poor, underleveled sod opposing him in his lane backpedal as he dealt with the oncoming mobs with a roll of his eyes. "We've heard all this 'state-of-the-art', 'fully immersive' hype before. What's different?"

"You're giving their left-laner pity EXP? So disrespectful, Bolt," Shikadai's voice snickered. "What are you doing, Yodo? Stay at R1G."

Boruto glanced up at his map, noticing the player dot in the right lane starting to pull into the middle lane, stopping, then heading back to the Right First Gate.

"Ugh, why are we farming these crabs and playing so defensively? They have no gates left, and their Gatekeeper base is defenseless since they're so behind," complained the voice of Shikadai's cousin. "We could have won this five minutes ago."

"Because Shikadai is a point whore who's hungry for a perfect win with no gate damage," Inojin's voice chimed in matter-of-factly.

"Hey, I'm _not_ a point whore!" Shikadai scoffed in retort. "There's nothing wrong with going for style. Perfect win opportunities are so rare, even against average players like these."

"No one has answered my question yet…" Boruto sighed, shaking his head as he took notice of two incoming enemy players for a gank attempt. "Left lane incoming… I'll need some help if I'm gonna beat these guys without letting them touch the gate."

"I gotcha."

Just as two enemy players leaped from the jungle into the lane, a barrage of senbon began to rain from the trees as well, forcing them to immediately stop and retreat as it quickly drained their health.

Another player sprang from the jungle and landed in front of Boruto's character, an assassin-nin with black garbs and a white porcelain mask. No sustain, but all skillshots and traps, a very devastating, but difficult ninja to play as, without superb technical skill. Luckily, Boruto didn't need to worry about that; Sarada was playing this character.

"You guys need to stop chit-chatting and focus so we don't screw this up!" Sarada scolded. "The lead developer has some final words for the players before launch, Boruto. That's why we're all listening in."

Boruto glanced at the corner of his screen. "Well, there's only six minutes left until launch… I vote we finish this quick."

He scrolled through his chat options for a moment, finally throwing up a ready-check for the rest of his team:

 _.: XxInsaneBoltxX :. has initialized a ready check:_

" _VICE Maneuver?"_

 _.: CommanDEER :. : __

 _.: Y0doKom0do :. : __

 _.: SaladGirl404 :. : __

 _.: Inojin :. : __

Within a few seconds, check marks popped into view for all four of his fellow teammates, and Boruto smirked. "Alright, let's show'em why we've been the #1-ranked War of Walls team for three seasons in a row."

Boruto and Sarada's characters advanced forward, decimating the enemy minions and causing heavy damage to the two enemy players in their lane. As they began to retreat backwards, Boruto used his second ability to wall off the lane's path and force them to take a side route into the jungle and toward the middle lane. He watched his map as he gave chase, seeing Yodo's character moving backwards towards their team's base, while Inojin and Shikadai began pushing their own opponents into the middle lane.

Just as planned, they had sparked a four-on-five teamfight on the enemy's side of the middle lane, and even though they were outnumbered, they were holding their own well, especially considering they had the level advantage. Sarada kept wisely out of the melee and poked at the enemy with poisoned senbon. Shikadai led most of the fighting with the insurmountable health pool of his toad ninja character and Boruto backed him up with a large damaging presence. Inojin kept the team sustained with support through healing, his character being a stereotypical medic-nin, wearing a surgical mask with white garbs and wielding syringes in place of kunai and shuriken.

"Ult charging, three seconds," Yodo announced, and Boruto and Inojin both acted quickly, with Boruto casting his third ability to cast a slowing area of effect spell on the ground, and Inojin's character using one of his own abilities to instantly swap places with one of his teammates, in this case, Yodo.

The moment Inojin made the switch, Yodo's ultimate ability had finished charging, allowing her to unleash a large burst of chakra in a circular area around her. Boruto, Shikadai and Sarada wisely jumped out of range, conscious of the friendly-fire capabilities of the chakra bomb. The other team, slowed down by Boruto's previous attack, wasn't so lucky. All five of the enemy players, unable to get out of the way in time, were vaporized, a simultaneous penta-kill, and a perfect execution of the VICE Maneuver.

"Ha! Who says that move's for gate damage?" Yodo cheered into her headset, her character doing a quick dance animation before they all regrouped and stormed through their enemy's shattered gates.

"Time for your ult, Bolt. Let's rush down their Gatekeeper while they're all respawning and seal this perfect win," Shikadai ordered.

"Yeah, yeah," Boruto muttered, glancing off-screen at the TV as he triggered his own ultimate ability with just a few clicks, casting a buff on the four of them which increased damage and attack speed, and brought the enemy gatekeeper from 100% health to zero in less than a quarter-minute, before any of their opponents even had a chance to respawn, sealing their victory with fanfare.

"Hopefully, Unlimited Quest will be more challenging than this," Boruto commented once they were taken back to the game lobby. And with nothing else to focus on, he turned his full attention to the television.

"The dev's on!" Boruto realized with an excited grin. "Everyone shut up!"

Sitting on screen with his signature casual stance and neutral, cryptic expression was Akari Nara. Best known as the father of the Chronicles of Nin franchise, he was also responsible for many other highly-successful games following his departure from the Leaf Village to form his own company, Entertainment, and construct his own development studio along the eastern shore of the Land of Fire's borders.

Like most Nara men, he was tall and lean, his dark hair held back in a short, loose ponytail. He wore thick-rimmed glasses over dark, narrow eyes, with the logo – a power button symbol used in place of the dot in ' ' – etched into one arm of the frames. He was dressed simply, in a simple green shirt and black pants with a black labcoat, also carrying the logo.

"Mr. Nara, your game, your greatest work _yet_ , is mere minutes away from being flooded with excited gamers from all over the world. For those players who don't know, tell us what we're going to expect logging in for the first time," the announcer asked.

"Firstly," Akari started, clearing his throat. "Keep very aware that this game is more than a game. It is an experience. Games of yesterday, even those that have tried to flimsily simulate virtual reality, have only been able to appeal to the eyes and ears. Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest appeals to _all_ five senses, in a way that is closer to reality than any game before it. Eating and drinking will feel like eating and drinking as it restores your health and chakra. Being hurt or wounded will cause you to feel something close to pain. The situations you will find yourself in as you quest through this fully-immersive ninja world will seem real. But keep in mind: they _aren't._ "

Akari leaned forward in his seat a little, wearing an expression as serious as he's ever appeared. "Players. Before you log into Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest for the first time, take a long, deep breath and take a long, hard look at your surroundings. Immerse yourselves freely in the game, but keep your thoughts somewhat anchored to the real world as well. This game can't hurt you. But if you _think_ it will, that's just as bad."

Boruto furrowed his brows and rolled his eyes. He might not have been lucky enough to beta-test the game like Shikadai was, but he was confident he could tell the difference between what was real and what wasn't without being _careful_ about it, or whatever he was talking about.

"Secondly," Akari continued, returning to his casual stance just as quickly as his personality had taken a serious turn. "There are no guidebooks to success in this game, no rigidly defined classes that must follow a specific pattern of moves in order to maximize their potential, no essential weapons or gear that are _required_ to succeed in the top tiers or highest levels. Unlimited Quest is a skill-based game. As high as your level and as rare as your gear, you will only be as good as _you_ are."

Boruto smirked. It was reassuring to hear that, and it made him that much more determined to become the best at it. He took a quick glance over toward the shelf of other games over his bed as well as his handheld, and the myriad of icons and shortcuts on his computer screen. Old conquests. He was more excited than ever to step into this new territory, and it killed him that he had to wait four more minutes.

"And finally," Akira's voice drew Boruto's attention back toward the television. "There is an entire world of content in Unlimited Quest, a nearly endless land to explore and countless unique secrets to discover in well-hidden nooks, which will only spawn once, and can only be used by the first person to find them. But the biggest secret, and the greatest challenge, lies at the end of the line, with the highest-tier boss currently in the game. To the first party of players in the world who manages to defeat the final, end-tier boss, untold wealth, power, and greatness awaits in-game, and to some extent, outside of the game as well. I would share more, but… it's untold for a reason."

Akira winked at the camera before glancing up and away, off-screen. "I hope you all are ready. You'll all be free to experience the beginning of a new era of gaming in only two minutes and forty-seven seconds."

"Target acquired, guys," Boruto said with a grin. "We know what we're shooting for! For sure, we're about to be the best team of players ever!" He rose to his feet and shut off his television, moving toward his computer and quickly bringing up the launcher for the game. "Use the face scan; don't waste any time in character creation. We need to meet up immediately and start leveling like crazy. We should be close to the level cap by the end of the week, alright?"

Shikadai snickered into his mic as Boruto watched the Bacharugan glow to life. It was a curious little headset with lit nodes and panels along the inside of the padded metal and plastic cap, rounded cups over the ears, and a glowing visor over the eyes. Just like all products, glowing blue power button symbols decorated the ear cups.

"I thought you were keeping up with this game, Bolt. First of all, there _is_ no level cap. Second, we can't meet up immediately because the tutorial is supposed to be single-player," Shikadai explained.

"You've beta-tested this, cous'," Yodo started. "What's the quickest way through the tutorial?"

"No idea. The tutorial wasn't part of the beta-test. What I tested was just a separate demo, I think. Which makes sense. Wouldn't want beta-testers having too much of an unfair advantage."

"Thirty seconds," Inojin announced. "See you inside, guys."

 _Inojin has disconnected._

"Let's try to enjoy ourselves as we play." Shikadai advised. "Our road to the top doesn't have to be a blitz, _Bolt_. And not everything needs to be taken so seriously, _Sarada_. Seeya inside, cousin."

 _CommanDEER has disconnected._

 _Y0doKom0do has disconnected._

"You ready for this?" Sarada asked as Boruto loaded the game's launcher. "If this is really a skill-based simulation of something close to reality, our skills as a ninja could really come in handy and give us the advantage."

"I was thinking the same thing," he agreed with a nod. "And I'm more than ready. Just try to keep up with me, Salad Girl."

"Remember who's who, Blunder-Bolt. We agreed I'm going for the tank role. I'm covering _your_ ass."

 _SaladGirl404 has disconnected._

Just at that moment, the clock struck noon, and the 'Play' button was finally clickable. With excitement running through his impatient fingers, Boruto launched the game, skipped the opening sequence, and took in the sight of the title screen. The name of the game, 'Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest', was prominent, with the symbol of the fictional Land of Nin behind it. The scene behind the title was an aerial view of a cloudy sky, overlooking a war-torn continent that looked noticeably to Boruto like the actual ninja world. Maybe this _was_ the first Nin game to take place in a realistic setting…

"Guess I'll see when I play," Boruto muttered as he moved to click 'Start'.

"Hey, bro! I need help!"

Hearing his sister's voice gave Boruto immediate pause, and annoyance briefly flashed across his bright blue eyes before he turned his head to look at Himawari, standing in his doorway and holding the gamepad for the console set up in the living room. Like Sarada, Himawari had only recently gotten into playing video games in her spare time. Unlike Sarada, Himawari wasn't very good at them.

The few times they invited her to play War of Walls when Yodo wasn't available were disastrous. She didn't have the mind for serious competitive gaming, and what typically saved her from being yelled out by Shikadai or Sarada was the fact that Boruto wouldn't have tolerated it, and Himawari's attitude, even when she was losing badly, was just too positive to be really mad at her without being uncomfortable with yourself.

"I'm trying to learn a new character that just came out in Ultra Clash Brethren. She's sooo cute, but is really hard to use! Can you help- Oh! Did Unlimited Quest come out today?"

"Yeah," Boruto responded quickly, trying to finish up the conversation as quickly and politely as possible. "I was just about to start playing and trying it out. Maybe I can help you with Clash later?"

Himawari nodded her head. "Maybe you can help me set up the Bacharugan later, too. I really want to play it with you guys!"

The thought of Himawari trying to play this game, if it was truly skill-based, made him cringe inwardly. He replied with a smile, however. "Maybe, sure. We're going to be moving pretty fast through the game, though. We won't have time to enjoy all the sights until later."

"Aw, well that's no fun," Hima pouted.

"We're one of the best gaming teams in the world, sis; we have a reputation to uphold. Don't worry about it, though. I'm sure that within a week, we'll have beaten the final boss, boosted our fame in the gaming community, and then you can play with us all you like. I'm about to start this up, so I'll talk to you later," Boruto told her, looking back at his screen.

"Alright, bro! Have fun," he heard her call as he clicked 'Start' on the main menu.

 **Welcome to Chronicles of Nin: Unlimited Quest.**

The soothing, synthesized female voice in Boruto's ears made him lift a brow and smirk as he was taken to a new screen with two options, 'Character Creation' and 'Face Scan'.

 **Please choose how you would like to build your in-game avatar. 'Character Creation' allows you to decide your character's appearance manually. 'Face Scan' will make use of the Bacharugan's capabilities and base your character's appearance on yo-**

Boruto quickly chose the 'Face Scan' option, and the screen slowly faded to black, all except for a simple glowing blue logo in the center.

 **Warning: While the Bacharugan headset is in use, your body will sit still in a trance-like state that cannot easily be broken. You will be automatically alerted in-game if there is a significant change in your immediate surroundings. Take a few moments to assure that you are secure and comfortable where you are sitting or lay-**

 **Ple-**

 **If-**

 **Th-**

 **N-**

 **Wh-**

Boruto rapidly pressed the space bar, skipping through much of the introductory spiel that the game was giving him **.**

"It's just a game; how many warnings do I need?" he muttered to himself, skipping through the voice clips until he hears the one he wants to.

 **Please put on your Bacharugan headset now.**

"Finally…" Boruto sighed, placing the comfortable device on his head and securing its locks and straps. At first, he was immersed immediately in disorienting darkness, but there began a humming in his ears, and a countdown began before his eyes.

 **10 seconds to immersion…**

Every passing second, the humming grew in intensity, lights began moving in wireframe patterns before his eyes, a curious… _mechanical_ odor and flavor touched his nose and tongue, and brief tingles began racing down his neck. In the distance, a bright light seemed to be racing toward him in the darkness, coming closer with each passing second.

 **Sensory attunement complete. 5 seconds to immersion…**

 **4…**

 **3…**

 **2…**

 **1…**

 **Enjoy.**

And Boruto lost consciousness.

* * *

 **And there you have it! The start of something amazing! Hopefully. :3 As of now, the second chapter is currently about halfway done, and will very likely be going up next week! I'm going to try to hold myself to weekly updates, especially since this semester of college is coming to an end and I'll have a lot more free time opening up soon. Look forward to that. :D**

 **In your review, if you decide to leave one, tell me what your favorite game is! My favorite game right now is Super Smash Brothers for the Wii U. Binding of Isaac is a close second. Both games are so addictive!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this prologue; leave a fave, a follow, and/or a review if you did!**

 **~M.H.C~**

 **May all your~**

 **Hearts beat with~**

 **Calamity~!**

 **Till next time!**


	2. Tutorial: Prisoners

**Welcome back! Bit of a slow start to this story, huh? A little less than 100 views in the first week, and only two reviews. But hopefully this will start to pick up and gain a bit more attention eventually. I plan for this to be a pretty big project!**

 **These first few chapters are all going to be about Boruto's experience in the tutorial. I plan for it to be pretty epic, especially near the end, so be ready for big things. Hopefully my writing's strong enough to carry how epic I plan to make these first few chapters. :3**

 **That's all from me. Read on!**

* * *

 **.: Boruto :. LVL 1  
XP 0/500  
HP 10/100  
CP 10/100**

 **STR 5 AGI 5 INT 5  
END 5 CHC 5 LUK 5  
**

Smell was the first sense to return to Boruto as he slowly regained consciousness, and the curious scent of old iron and ozone stirred him further. In his ears, he heard the light dripping of water from somewhere close by, and the low rumble of thunder from somewhere far off. There was a stale taste in his mouth. He'd eaten a late lunch as soon as he'd gotten back from training, but even though he wasn't _actually_ hungry, he felt as if he hadn't eaten in days.

Little by little, he regained himself, feeling cool stone under his fingers. He was no longer sitting comfortably in his chair. He was lying prone on a cold hard concrete floor. And when his vision finally returned, last of all, the first thing he laid eyes upon was a rather large cockroach skittering casually across the floor in front of him.

"Gaah!" Boruto jumped up to his feet with a gasp, shivering lightly and wobbling unsteadily. He put his hand on one of the walls for support, disturbed by how weak he felt, and even more disturbed by where he was.

Boruto took a long look around his plain, dark prison cell, the only light in the room streaming in through barred window along the back wall, currently a very dim moonlight smothered by overhanging clouds and snowy weather. The cell's only viable exit was a sturdy iron door with a small, barred looking window, cloaked in a sheet of bright, humming chakra that just screamed 'Don't touch me.' What the hell happened to him?

Next, he looked down at himself. The clothes he'd been wearing before putting on the headset were gone, replaced with plain, ragged garbs with simple sandals. He looked down at his hands, then over toward a mirror along one of the walls of his cell. He looked like himself…

"Wow… This is a perfect face scan!" he chuckles, touching his own cheek and admiring himself for a moment before blinking slowly. "Face scan… I'm… The game. I'm in the game right now. It's just a game…"

Boruto closed his eyes and sighed. All of this was incredibly disorienting, but it helped him to be assured that none of it was real… Even though it all looked, felt, and _seemed_ real.

"You awake over there?" called out a voice from somewhere nearby, and Boruto turned his head curiously toward his cell door. "I'm in the cell across from yours, friend. You haven't made a sound since those Otsutsuki bastards threw you in here along with the rest of us."

"Otsutsuki…?" Boruto muttered, raising a brow. He recognized the name. His father had told him about his battle with Kaguya Otsutsuki when he was younger, as well as Toneri Otsutuki a few years later, and the two strange bandits that attacked the village and managed to kidnap his father during Boruto's Chunin Exams were also Otsutsukis… Were there more? "What are you talking about? Where are we and why are we here? Who are you?" His mind was filled with questions, but he felt almost too weak to speak, and the voice outside could tell.

"You're pretty winded… You've been out for a while. Take a moment to get your bearings and put something in your system. Our jailers left us a last meal this morning. Yours has been sitting there for some time, but stale food's better than no food. Just walk forward a few steps. Get yourself used to moving again."

Last meal? Jailers? Stale food sounded delicious right now, given how weak and hollow his body felt… Boruto could almost feel his racing heartbeat echoing in his chest, wondering what's going to…

"It's a basic movement tutorial…" he told himself quietly, closing his eyes and steadying his breath… "It's designed to test my integration with the system and get myself accustomed to moving around in this _virtual_ world… It's not real."

Boruto believed himself, but at the same time, some part of him wasn't sure. He couldn't remember what his room looked like. Was this normal? Shaking his head, he put his thoughts aside and walked slowly toward the faded metal tray of food right in front of the small slot cut into the bottom of the door. He noted immediately that it was too small to try to crawl through, and gave up on his thoughts of escape for the moment. Right now, he just needed food in his belly…

It was a plain few slices of bread, a small glass of water, and an orange that had rolled off the tray and onto the dirty floor for who-knows-how-long, but it was a decent enough meal for Boruto, who watched curiously as when he ate, a small red bar appeared in front of him in the corner of his vision, almost depleted, but slowly growing, the number within it gradually increasing from '10' all the way up to '100' as it completely filled up.

Once his bread and orange were gone, he gulped down the little cup of water, and a second blue bar below the red bar appeared, and rose from '10' to '100' in a fraction of the time it took his health to be restored. Food restored his HP slowly, and drinks restored his CP, chakra points, he guessed, rapidly. A curious formula, but he took silent note of it.

When both bars were filled up, they disappeared, and Boruto rose to his feet again, feeling a tad bit more refreshed, but no less anxious. He glanced at the humming chakra-enforced cell door, hesitant to approach it. Slowly, he did so anyway, and peeked through the bars to find a similarly disheveled prisoner standing at the prison door across from his own. He had dark skin and blonde hair, a common trait among people who hailed from the Land of Lightning. His eyes were sunken, but friendly, and he gave Boruto a smile.

As Boruto peered at the man, blue spectral words began to flit above his head for a moment.

 **.: Chuto Riaru :. LVL 1  
*Shinobi Rebellion***

"…Chuto, right?" Boruto asked with a blink as the words disappeared. "The… Shinobi Rebellion. What happened to it? How did we get here? What… _is_ here?"

Chuto closed his eyes and chuckled for a brief moment. "You remembered _my_ name, but you forgot our mission? Heh… You must have taken a pretty hard hit. I guess the details will start coming back eventually. …Or not, who knows? But I'll fill you in on the basics. Take a look outside that little window behind you."

Boruto raised a blonde brow and moved toward the back of his cell, much steadier on his feet now. Just outside the barred window, he saw the earth dusted withthe dead grey snow that was falling from the cloudy sky. Marching about, standing guard, or ushering battered prisoners around were what appeared to be tall, pale-skinned soldiers wielding oddly-glowing red weapons and clad in thick white cloth uniforms. On the backs of their thick vests, they wore a curious symbol: a golden circle resting in the curve of a pale blue crescent moon.

Far in the distance, Boruto recognized what he had learned in geography during his time in the Academy as Three Wolves Mountain, the centerpiece landmark of the Land of Iron. The sight of it sent a chill up his spine, as he gazed upon an incredible floating fortress looming above the mountains, with other flying structures like airships hovering in an imposing orbit around it.

"That's the Otsutsuki Empire," Chuto began explaining, and Boruto tore his eyes away from the ominous view outside his window to step back toward his cell door and look inquisitively at Chuto. "About fifteen years ago, during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, a structure known as the God Tree was erected by the enemies of the Shinobi Alliance, the Akatsuki. That tree was supposed to be used to place the entire world under a genjutsu by reflecting chakra off the moon, but luckily, that plan was foiled. However…"

Chuto took a moment to sigh before he continued. "What the God Tree _did_ do was release a massive stream of chakra into the atmosphere as it attempted to do its job. This chakra stream acted like a beacon that would later on in the war, call down a race of aliens, if you can believe it: the Otsutsuki Clan. Needless to say, the war came to a screeching halt. All over the world, the Otsutsukis brought down flying vessels from the sky, fired devastating beams of chakra down onto our heads, destroyed every hidden village, and brought the ninja world to its knees in a matter of days."

Boruto gulped and furrowed his brows. "Why are they doing this?"

At that, Chuto chuckled. "Hell if I know. There's something about this planet, our planet, that makes them want it. And we're in the way. Only one thing to do about that, isn't there?" He shook his head before continuing.

"They killed a lot of people. Their power was insurmountable, especially after they used that 'God Tree' that called them here to resurrect their leader here on the ground, Kaguya. It looked like there was nowhere to go, that we'd all either be killed or put under the Otsutsuki Empire's heel. But then, we discovered a new inhabited continent, southeast of the Land of Water, off any of our maps."

"The Land of Nin," Boruto guessed, realization striking him. He had enough pieces of the puzzle that he could loosely throw them all together in his head and finally connect this to the Chronicles of Nin canon. "Everyone fled there, and the people who lived on that continent agreed to help us out… Gave us the means to fight these super-powerful Otsutsukis, I guess. And all of us fighting to take back our home formed the Shinobi Rebellion… Is that close?"

"Close enough," Chuto grunted, then cracked another grin. "You probably can't tell, but we aren't winning this war right now. In fact, every attempt to even secure a foothold back into our home continent has failed. On the upside, the Otsutsukis haven't been able to push into the Land of Nin, either. Probably because they aren't really trying. Whatever's here, on our home continent, it must be a lot more interesting than what's over there."

"We're home right now?" Boruto asked, lifting a brow.

"Yep. The last fight to take some part of the Land of Water ended with a lot of rebels like us being captured. And now here we are, at the seat of the Otsutsuki Empire's power, awaiting execution."

The weight of the word sunk hard into Boruto's stomach despite the calm and nonchalant way that Chuto expressed it. His eyes widened and his face visibly paled. "Ex… Execution?"

As Chuto nodded, the distant sound of a heavy door opening from somewhere down the cell block hallway turned both of their head. "Yeah. And it looks like the wait's just about over. For what it's worth, it was an honor fighting by your side, friend."

"We can't just die like this! There has to be something we can do!" Boruto said, grabbing the window bars of his cell doors and immediately regretting it as a violent force sent a shock down his system and repelled him into the back wall of his cell.

He groaned and clutched his stomach in pain, and in the corner of his vision, he barely noticed the red bar slowly depleting about a quarter of his health in a few moments. His terrified mind was far too focused on the pain heating his nerves and making him cringe.

' _It's just a game… It's just a game…'_ he repeated to himself. He wanted to believe himself, but what his mind and body were experiencing would not let him.

Boruto managed to shakily rise to his feet again when the chakra shroud on the heavy door vanished, and it slowly swung open to reveal the tall lean figure of one of the pale-skinned soldiers he had seen marching about outside. A closer look at him revealed that he was chillingly similar in appearance to the two Otsutsukis who attacked the village some time ago: alabaster pale skin with faded green hair and wide Byakugan eyes. In his hands was a glowing red pike made out of chakra.

Just like with Chuto, spectral words shimmered into view just above the soldier's head, only red instead of blue.

 **.: Imperial Sentinel :. LVL 5  
*Otsutsuki Empire***

The sentinel did not speak, but a deep voice just outside the cell in the hall rang out, speaking to all of the prisoners: "Criminals of the Otsutsuki Empire, you have been judged and found wanting. Come quietly, and this doesn't have to be painful."

Boruto's sentinel aimed his pike at him, a threatening look in his eye. The choice was obvious: go quietly, or have a bad time and lose more health… Out of the corner of his eye, Boruto saw that Chuto chose the former option, being led in and quickly out of view with his arms pinned behind him. With a gulp, he slowly came forward and allowed himself to have his arms pinned as he was led down the dark cell block hallway.

All around him, Boruto could see and hear that other prisoners weren't quite as compliant. Screams of agony echoed into his ears as sentinels fired beams from the heads of their pikes that controlled their target's movements and caused intense pain at the same time, forcing prisoners into obedience.

' _It's just a game…'_ Boruto continued to repeat to himself as they were ushered in a line out of the building where they were being held, and into the bitter cold, where Boruto's senses continued to deny his thoughts.

As he was led on, Boruto passed by the bulky, towering man who had spoken loudly moments ago. He was notably without a weapon, and a chill raced up Boruto's spine. He _recognized_ this one, and the red nameplate that shimmered into view confirmed his fears.

 **.: Kinshiki Otsutsuki :. LVL 80  
*Imperial Captain of Arms***

Recognizing Kinshiki, however, didn't scare Boruto nearly as much as the hard stare that the giant of a man gave him, him in particular above all of the other prisoners, as if he also recognized him as well. Even after Boruto looked forward again, he could still feel the cold heat of his gaze against the back of his neck, accelerating his heartbeat with each passing moment the giant was locked onto him, and for a while after he was out of sight.

Looking ahead, Boruto saw that he and the rest of the prisoners that had been ushered from their cells alongside him were being led toward a clearing in what seemed to be the center of the snowy encampment, where several more armed sentinels stood before a chopping block…

Logic screamed for Boruto to get himself together, to remember that this was only the beginning and that something was _bound_ to happen, but every one of his senses screamed louder, completely certain of his imminent death at the hands of foes who shouldn't be alive. As he and the other prisoners were lined up, an inky shadow bled into existence on the ground in front of the soldiers. After a moment, yet another chillingly familiar figure rose from the shadow before it receded: a slender man wearing a more regal outfit, compared to the militaristic uniforms of the guards behind him. There were very few distinctive qualities that set him aside from other Otsutsukis, except for the pair of red Rinnegan eyes in the palms of his hands.

 **.: Momoshiki Otsutsuki :. LVL 81  
*Imperial Councilor***

Just like before, a red nameplate shimmered briefly above his head before it disappeared. Unlike the stoic visages of every other one of his kinsman, Momoshiki's face was expressive to the point where he almost seemed human. He wore pride in his blank lavender eyes and amusement in his easy grin as he looked upon the faces of the worn row of prisoners in front of him, trembling feebly in the harsh snow.

"Look around," Momoshiki began simply, gesturing casually with a sweeping motion of one arm. "Are you proud of yourselves, rebels? Are you satisfied with the choices that have brought you to this point? The _mistakes_ that have led you young, lowly beings to an early grave?"

No one spoke. Some couldn't bring themselves to look up at one of the most powerful beings in the world, and stared at the snow. Others glared defiantly at Momoshiki, their spirits unbroken. Few others gazed at nothing at all, their eyes empty.

The 'councilor' chuckled and shook his head. "You were given every opportunity to survive. When the dust had settled after your lands came to ruin, and even just recently after your capture, you were offered places as slaves to the Otsutsuki Empire. And yet, at every-"

"We'll never be slaves to you! This is our- GYAAGH!"

"-turn, you struggled and defied us, like insects squirming beneath the heel of a titan."

One of the prisoners near Boruto began to yell out defiantly against Momoshiki, and was swiftly punished for it. Without even pausing his thought, Momoshiki held out his right hand. Red lightning streamed from the Rinnegan on his palm, assaulting the outspoken prisoner relentlessly.

"I hope it's perfectly clear by now that no matter what your people do, no matter where your people flee, no matter how passionately you thrash, scream, and convulse in the face of true power… your people are only human. Think about that for your last few moments as you are all decapitated one by one."

Momoshiki continued to casually electrocute his target, speaking over his anguished screaming. Boruto watched, his eyes wide with horror. Above the screaming rebel's head, a red and blue bar appeared for his health and chakra, both of which were rapidly depleting. His chakra was draining twice as fast as his health, and when his chakra had been completely depleted, and his health at its halfway point, the brutal attack began to change.

In the middle of Momoshiki's speech, the streams of harsh lightning suddenly changed direction, and instead of flowing into the targeted prisoner, it began to flow backwards, returning to the Rinnegan in Momoshiki's hand. The prisoner's screams intensified, and his entire body began to engulf itself in glowing red energy. At the moment Momoshiki finished his speech, the remaining half of his target's remaining health dropped down to zero instantly. His body deconstructed itself into an unstable mass of energy that was also sucked toward Momoshiki's hand. The energy swirled itself into a spherical shape before the red glow vanished, and what was once a human man became a round, crimson fruit in the Otsutsuki's palm.

Momoshiki eyed his new fruit with a neutral expression before taking a bite out of it and savoring the flavor for a moment. "Starting now. Hm, spicy…"

Every rebel who had witnessed the shockingly brutal display was frightened even paler than they already were. Chuto seemed mildly surprised and disturbed, his brows furrowing together. Boruto felt absolutely sick to his stomach, the weight that had dropped in his gut almost bearing down to hard on him to stand, if not for the firm support of the sentinel binding him.

Witnessing that attack made Boruto's brain itch. He felt as if there was something more that he should be seeing, somehow, but for some reason, he's unable to. Something is being suppressed in his mind and he's unsure what it is. Another scary thought to add on to the fact that he probably never _will_ know.

As Momoshiki casually ate his new snack, and his large eyes scanned over each of the remaining rebels, the sound of Kinshiki's heavy footsteps as he stepped slowly through the snow made Boruto tense. The giant of a man stepped toward the much smaller councilor.

"Tell me, Captain Kin," he starts with his mouth full. "You're much better at things like this than I am. Which of these lowly beings do you think should die first?"

Kinshiki had his answer without even needing to look around or think it through. He turned his head raised one giant hand and pointed directly at Boruto while staring him right in the eye.

"That one."

* * *

 **And that's that! I got this done a little bit earlier than I thought I would. I have the next few days off for Thanksgiving break, but at the same time, lots of homework, too. Hopefully, chapter 3 will be up by next week, but bear with me if it's not. College is a struggle!**

 **There's a few more subtle references to games in this chapter. Anyone want to try to guess them? :3**

 **~M.H.C~**

 **May all your~**

 **Hearts beat with~**

 **Calamity~!**

 **Till next time!**


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